


A Long-Awaited Return

by huntdowndreams



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Campaign 1 (Critical Role), Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Critical Role Spoilers, F/M, If you haven't finished Campaign 1 maybe don't read this?, One Shot, Post-Episode: Dalen's Closet, You've been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26587663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntdowndreams/pseuds/huntdowndreams
Summary: The leader of the Air Ashari learns to lead alone as Vax'ildan watches over his Tempest from beyond the world of the living.
Relationships: Keyleth/Vax'ildan (Critical Role)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	A Long-Awaited Return

Vax had known Keyleth’s mother lived from the moment he exited the material world. After his reunion with his own mother, she was the first person he had sought out, even before Tiberius. The mother of The Voice of The Tempest deserved to know of her daughter’s growth and successes but not finding her in the afterlife was a joy and a worry. If Vilya was not in the domain of the Raven Queen, why had she not returned to her family? How had she escaped the Kraken that had taken his own life? Would Keyleth ever get the chance to be reunited with her mother?

These questions faded as his distance from the material grew. He spent his time serving the Mother of Ravens guiding souls onward. On occasion, Vax’ildan was able to see his family’s growth by the Blessing of his Queen. His Sister was sad but with Lord De Rolo by her side, each day grew more bearable. While he did check on them all, of course, it was his Love that he watched the most as she was the only one left alone. She guided Zephrah with wisdom so beyond her years. Her grief weighed heavier than the mantle on her shoulders. He would visit and she would talk to him, tell him of their family’s adventures and growth. Not once did he dare talk back for he feared the knowledge that he was truly there would only keep the Tempest locked in her grief but every day he came to visit.

After what felt like eons, Vax’ildan was called again to the material plane, for his sister’s wedding. The sight of his family was comforting, but not what it once had been. Death was a mystery the living could never understand, and it had changed him. He was as enraptured by the Tempest in death as he had been in life. In her great wisdom, she had known all along that is was he who came to visit her each day. He could see the grief grow on her shoulders at this admission and while he was grateful for Scanlan’s gift, the chance to give his family just a bit of closure, he knew that this moment would hurt his Love far more than help. It was only once he returned that he realized the opportunity he had missed. Had he not been so focused on his own wants, he could have been able to tell his Love that her mother yet lived. The Tempest deserved to have someone by her side for her long life. A faded ghost, a memory of a man long gone would be of no use for the Voice of the Tempest. This was the only way he could have helped his Love move on, but now he would simply have to let time heal her wounds as best they could.

The children of Zephrah were one of the few things able to cast the shadows from her eyes, for however brief time. She spent the last night of each week telling stories, answering all manner of questions about her Aremente, about the monsters she had faced, the shenanigans done by her family. With time, and with every retelling of their story, he could see the grief in his love’s eyes grow duller. His loss was now a permanent mark on the soul of the Tempest, but a bearable reality. Her lectures were a tradition she had begun in recent years, as the chances to visit with Vox Machina grew fewer and fewer.

She had also written down her travels in detail, to preserve them for herself in the years to come. This was all to prepare herself for centuries of solitude after all of Vox Machina was dead. It was an inevitability she did not want to think about, but a truth she was reminded of each time she went to visit; There would be a millennium to live after all of Vox Machina was gone and the Tempest would be alone. She told him all of this, every day as she sat under the Raven Tree. Though she had never been one to speak to the gods, the Tempest did talk to Vax’ildan. He could never answer but he would listen and comfort her as best he could. She questioned the curse of a life so long. Though she did not fully realize it her thoughts formed a sort of prayer. Vax’ildan as champion was a conduit for these prayers, and the Mother of Ravens was able to grant a small mercy.

One crisp autumn evening, so long after his passing he could no longer count the days, Vax’ildan watches his Tempest as she tells stories to the people of Zephrah; stories of the Legend of Vox Machina, stories of him. Through eyes not entirely his own Vax’ildan watches a gate open in Zephrah’s largest tree. The Tempest stood in the center of the amphitheater, the place she had received her mantle and been made the leader of her people. The Ashari sit in the stands listening intently before noticing the growing portal behind their leader. Abruptly they begin to stand to see who is arriving in their small community.

The Voice of the Tempest goes silent. She turns around to see what commotion is happening behind her. A figure steps through as the portal quickly closes. The people of Zephrah retreat or fall back into their seats. Vax’ildan then directs his attention back towards his Love. She clasps her chest as tears form and fall from her eyes. She runs forward into her mother’s long-awaited arms, the dead somehow returned to life.

**Author's Note:**

> Please be kind. I haven't published anything I've written before but I could not get this idea out of my head. I did not use character names because at the wedding Liam deliberately did not use their names, only their titles.


End file.
